Officer Marc Toft investigates a suspicious death Tuesday at 1025 E. Eighth St. in Sioux Falls, east of downtown near Whittier Middle School / Emily Spartz / Argus Leader

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This July 2010 photo shows Crescencio Conde-Vargas with his wife and kids. From left to right are daughter Vanessa Lopez, daughter Nancy Conde, wife Maria Lucia Avila, Crescencio Conde-Vargas, son Aaron Conde, daughter Arlene Conde, and son Christian Conde / Submitted photo

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Cresencio Conde-Vargas would have been 51 on Thursday. But instead of celebrating his life, his family is mourning his death and wondering who would harm the man they knew as a loving dad and grandpa.

Police have ruled the death of Conde-Vargas a homicide, the first this year in Sioux Falls. Police found his body shortly before 12:30 p.m. Monday in his home in the 1000 block of East Eighth Street near Cliff Avenue, Lt. Blaine Larsen said.

No one has been arrested, but police suspect Conde-Vargas knew his attacker. The home had no forced entry and there is evidence inside the home that there was a “pretty good struggle,” Larsen said.

Larsen said there’s no danger to the public.

“The victim sustained head trauma, obviously … there was no gun or knife used as far as we can tell,” he said.

Police are waiting for autopsy results before any more description of the beating will be released, Larsen said.

When asked about potential persons of interest, Larsen said, “we’re looking at several people right now. We’ve got a lot of leads we have to follow up on.”

The time of death for Conde-Vargas has not been determined, but police expect it happened sometime over the weekend. Investigators were at the home late into the night Monday and for most of Tuesday.

On Monday, police went to Conde-Vargas’ home, where he lived alone, on a check well-being call. Conde-Vargas hadn’t shown up for work, and his employer asked police to check on him, Larsen said.

“Work became concerned because that’s unusual for him,” Larsen said.

Before police were called, co-workers went to check on Conde-Vargas shortly after noon and saw him through the window but he didn’t respond to knocks on the door. Police haven’t said where Conde-Vargas worked.

The victim’s daughter, Nancy Conde, said her father worked at StarMark Cabinetry in northern Sioux Falls. Messages to StarMark were not returned and a woman who answered a phone call to the business said, “No comment,” when asked about Conde-Vargas.

“I don’t know who would ever want to hurt him,” Conde said. “He opened up his house to everybody that needed help, anytime. I just don’t understand. I feel like I’m in a dream. It’s hard. It’s hard on everyone.”

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A funeral service for Conde-Vargas is planned for Sunday at the George Boom Funeral Home on East 10th Street and burial is Monday, Conde said. Conde-Vargas, who was originally from central Mexico, will be buried in Sioux Falls, his daughter said.

Conde-Vargas spent most of his life in the United States and moved to Sioux Falls about a decade ago. He was known as “Chris” by his friends.

Conde-Vargas is survived by two sons, age 10 and 23, three daughters, age 18, 28 and 32, and six grandchildren, Nancy Conde said. All live in Sioux Falls. Conde-Vargas had been separated from his wife for about a year, Conde said.

“My mother is very devastated, regardless,” she said. “It’s a very sad moment for her as well.”

Conde said her father enjoyed spending time with his family and cooking large meals for them during gatherings. He was a social person, liked to sing and always had a smile on his face, Conde said.

“He was really friendly to everybody,” Nancy Conde said. “He was a very good man. If you met him today, you’d just fall in love with him.”

Lorenzo and Michelle Reta, owners of Nikki’s La Mexicana grocery store, said Conde-Vargas was a regular customer, and when he visited the store he always had a story to share. The grocery store sits about a block west of where Conde-Vargas lived.

“He was always very happy,” Lorenzo Reta said. “Everybody here knew him. He would always try to help people when someone needed it.”

The Retas said they last saw Conde-Vargas in the store on Saturday.

“He was a great person,” Michelle Reta said. “He was the type of person that was so full of nice things to say. He’d come over and talk about his work. He was really excited about his job.”

Another place Conde-Vargas visited often was a casino bar across Eighth Street from his home called Walters’ Hi-Ho. Randy Ellis was in the bar late Tuesday morning and said he saw Conde-Vargas there frequently.

“He was a nice guy,” Ellis said. “This place is a neighborhood bar, so we’d see each other all the time. He’d always bring in food. He’d come in and just talk. He taught me a lot of Spanish. He will be missed.”